TyLoo send NiP home, advance to CS:GO Asia Championships semi-finals

TYLOO are through to the semi-finals at the CS:GO Asia Championships 2018 after defeating Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 to eliminate the Swedish team (16-14 on Inferno, 5-16 on Overpass, and 16-9 on Cache).

The quarter-finals kicked off on Inferno, TYLOO's map pick, where the Chinese team claimed the pistol and the following anti-eco in a fresh 2-0 start. TYLOO looked to earn their third, but a smooth triple-kill retake from Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund put Ninjas in Pyjamas back on track (1-2). From there, Ninjas in Pyjamas went on to win three in a row, before TYLOO's aggression snapped the streak (3-5).

The two sides then went back and forth, until Ninjas in Pyjamas won two rounds to make it 7-4. TYLOO weren't going down without a fight and fired back with three massive rounds to even things out 7-7, but Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson's triple-kill hold set Ninjas in Pyjamas up for an 8-7 lead at the half.

In the second half, Ninjas in Pyjamas continued their momentum to secure the second pistol and the following anti-ecos; however, TYLOO turned the tides in the gun round to win four straight to equalize the score (11-11).

TYLOO pressed on to add two more to their lead, but the Swedes came rallying back with three on the board to edge the lead (14-13). In the end, TYLOO answered back with a stout defense that held the line for the remainder of the half, winning three straight to take the map and the series lead (16-14).

Ninjas in Pyjamas's map pick, Overpass, kicked off with the Swedes securing the T pistol and the following anti-ecos for a clean 3-0 start. TYLOO then got back in the picture in their full buy round to win two in a row, but a quad-kill by Lekr0 in the 6th round stumped the Chinese team (4-2).

Ninjas in Pyjamas went on to extend their lead 9-2 winning six straight, before TYLOO broke the streak to claim their third and last of the half. The Swedes lunged forward winning the three remaining rounds to lead 12-3 at halftime.

The second half saw Ninjas in Pyjamas claim the second pistol, but the Swedes could not come out on top in the anti-ecos as TYLOO were fighting to stay alive putting two on the board (5-14). All in all, Ninjas in Pyjamas were able to claim the remaining two rounds, with Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg and Lekr0 putting in most of the work forcing the decider.

The series then came down to the decider, Cache, where the Chinese team were off to a slated 2-0 start, winning the pistol and the anti-eco. Ninjas in Pyjamas's aggression paid off in the following round to win their first, then, Lekr0 tied the game 2-2 with a quad-kill that included a 1vs1 clutch.

The two sides then traded rounds until Ninjas in Pyjamas finally jumped out for an 8-5 lead, but HaoWen "⁠somebody⁠" Xu kept his composure with the entry-kills and steered TYLOO back in the game to settle the score 7-8 at the half. In the second half, Ninjas in Pyjamas struggled against the aggressive T-side from TYLOO, who won four straight to make it 11-8.

Another smooth triple-kill retake of the series by GeT_RiGhT earned Ninjas in Pyjamas's first round of the half, but TYLOO did not let their foot off the gas and drove off with the half winning five straight to claim the 16-9 map victory, taking the series 2-1 and securing a spot in the semi-finals.